


I would have gladly mingled

by tastygoldentaters



Category: Classicaloid (Anime)
Genre: M/M, Senpai Notice Me, Senpai-Kouhai Relationship, Slow Burn, i mean it when i say slow okay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-29
Updated: 2017-02-05
Packaged: 2018-09-20 18:44:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9506924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tastygoldentaters/pseuds/tastygoldentaters
Summary: Beethes is curious about Schubert, and wants to know why does the younger man idolize him so. His curiosity will lead to him rediscovering things about his past, and seeing his present more clearly.





	1. Jet Black Coffee

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea of how many chapters this is going to take, but I had to let my Beethes x Schubert feelings out somewhere. I just really want senpai to notice Schubert, is that too much to ask?
> 
> This is set after "Die Forelle", when Schubert is a bit less skittish around his senpai.

Every morning started the same at the Otawa manor. Beethes would get up with the sunlight in his face, drag himself to the bathroom and then downstairs to the kitchen. He was always one of the first ones to get up: by the time he sat at the kitchen table, Kanae was already rushing outside to go to school, sometimes dragging a sleepy Sosuke along when he slept over. That left him alone with Liszt, already drinking her chai in the living room, and Schubert, who would finish his coffee and proceed to do some chores.

Beethoven took a sip from his own mug; jet black, two sugars. It seemed funny that he’d drink coffee someone else made, for some reason - he recalled being somewhat picky towards the beverage in the past, but couldn’t pinpoint why. For the first time in weeks he actually stopped, holding the mug just below his lips, to wonder where the coffee had come from. These situations were not unusual for him, letting the more mundane aspects of life go unnoticed whenever his mind was focused on something more important. Alas, it was always music in his mind, always muddling his thoughts and trying to spring out of his chest before he could make any sense of it, but still, he held on. Music without passion was inexcusable, and the melodies in his head needed time to mature, so Beethes could give them the attention they deserved. And in this obsession, sometimes the world went by before his eyes, and sometimes simple acts of kindness towards him went unnoticed.

Like his coffee, already on the kitchen table every morning around the same time. It couldn’t be the girl, the mere thought of her serving him coffee would offend her, with all her babbling around not being their maid and whatnot. The one housemate he saw as a close friend, Wolf, was never awake at this time, and Beethes knew him to be too childish to do something like that and not get any credits or praise for it. Now that he thought of it, there was only one person there who would think of serving him coffee every day and wouldn’t bother telling him about it, and that would be that strange man, Schubert.

Ever since Schubert came to the manor, he sang Beethes’s praises wherever he went, which was very confusing; he seemed to know more about Beethoven than the man himself, and kept calling him “Beethoven-senpai”, which was strange coming from a man he had never even seen before. Of what importance could he be to this man he barely knew that he would know how he liked his coffee and serve it to him every morning, without a word? What had he done to inspire such devotion, and was there more that Schubert had done for him that he hadn’t acknowledged? The whole situation with Scubert’s Musik last week was somewhat weird, and Beethoven couldn’t understand what made the man turn him, and then their housemates, into fish; he did notice that Schubert was less skittish after that day, but it didn’t make him any less vocal about Beethes’s greatness, and it confused him immensely, even though it was the first time he had actually spared it any thought.

Beethoven rested his empty mug on the table, only to see a gloved hand take it to the dishwasher; Schubert smiled at him and went on with his chores. At this point, Beethes usually got up without a word and locked himself in his room to compose, but his curiosity got the best of him and he decided to stay a little longer and observe what people in the manor were up to when he wasn’t paying attention. For the half an hour he sat there at the kitchen table, Beethes observed Schubert loading the dishwasher, putting the dishes away, and cleaning the kitchen, all the while singing. He wondered if Schubert ever stopped singing; how come his music flowed out of him with such ease, and at the same time full of passion and wonder? 

He knew the other man was a classicaloid too, but he hadn’t had an opportunity to properly hear his Musik yet (he vaguely remembered him helping defend the manor some weeks ago, but was too caught up in his own Musik to be sure). What kind of Musik did he make? And who was he in their past lives? Beethoven mused over how the man seemed to remember more about his past life than the other classicaloids, and got so lost in thought he didn’t notice when Schubert left the kitchen, taking his singing with him.

…

The sound of crickets was one of Beethes’s favourite sounds. He would spend the early hours of the night, soon after the sun had set, standing by his bedroom window and listening to their song, and the rustling of the leaves when the wind caressed the trees; such a small pleasure compared to the time he had spent in his previous life, the nights in the city of music, filled with artists and orchestras, but it was the sounds of nature that he missed the most - the stark reminder of his condition whenever he seeked company in the past, not being able to agree when someone mentioned the beautiful chirping of the birds or a singing shepherd in the distance. But now he could hear, and it filled him with joy.

Beethes tapped a rhythm on the windowsill, looking at the purple sky with a vacant expression. He could hear Schubert singing from the bathroom down the hall, and tried to match his taps to the time of his song. The man had a pleasant voice, from what he’d heard so far, and seemed to either sing or hum or whistle all day long; it was plain to see that he breathed music, just as much as the other classicaloids seemed to, and even though he’d never make an effort to draw attention to his music, it was always something that came almost effortlessly from him. Beethes liked that; to have music be such a part of your being that it comes out of you without any concerns of turning it into a performance.

The minutes went by and it wasn’t long until he heard someone banging on all the doors in the corridor. It was Liszt, calling everyone down to play a game Chopin had found in one of the dusty cupboards he liked to hide in. Beethes didn’t wait for his turn to have the scandalous woman going on tangents about love or whatever in front of his door, so he opened it before it happened and went downstairs; he didn’t feel the need to say it to anyone, but he was glad in this life he could have a second chance at companionship, in his own way.


	2. Board Games

All the pieces were set on the board, and all the players listened closely as Beethoven read the game rules from the box. It was a fairly simple game, where each of them controlled a tiny car with a plastic pin that was supposed to represent a person, and try to lead successful lives. Beethoven started, and it was Schubert’s turn right after.

Schubert was sitting next to him, fresh out of the bath and still humming; he stopped after the first round, when Wolf got himself famous in his first play. His mood turned sour and he focused on the game - but no matter how hard he worked, his little plastic car never got fame nor fortune. A few rounds went by, and Liszt's good mood and Chopin's constant bad luck seemed to lighten up the mood. His bitterness subsided after a while and he seemed to be actually enjoying the game, but he didn’t say much; Beethes wondered if anything was wrong: everyone seemed to be their normal selves, Liszt was as loud as always, Chopin as quiet as always, and Wolf as boisterous as always; only Schubert, who always had something to say about him, was strangely silent. 

“It looks like you’re having a hard time getting married, though, Senpai.”

Something was definitely amiss. He wasn’t expecting to be mocked by _him_ , of all people! But… was it even mockery? He said it as if he was simply stating the weather or something equally trivial… in his defense, yes, it was just a game, but “not getting married” stirred unpleasant memories in his mind. Come to think of it, he felt the same way days ago when Kanae had rejected him; granted, he was just trying to distract her from the mess the others had made on the roof, and he couldn’t see her that way anyway, but the rejection still stung. The girl had said something about liking some things about him, but could she really? He knew he had his talents, and no one needed to remind him he was a genius, but what else would people like about him? Even Schubert, with his strange devotion towards him, seemed to care only about the things he already knew he excelled at. He couldn’t remember a time when people seemed glad for his company, for example, just his genius and his music, not in this life, not in the last.

“Hey, Lud-kun! It’s your turn!”

He turned to look to Wolf, who grinned as he showed off his plastic car now with two plastic people in it. _It’s just a game. Just a game._

…

The local High School was buzzing with excitement for the upcoming festival, less than a week away. It felt good to be surrounded by such positive energy, and it didn’t take long before a group of helpful students offered to assist Beethes in setting up his gyoza stand. At first he was uncertain if helping Sousuke was a good idea, but after a while he saw things as they really were: it was an opportunity for Beethoven to show he could help in other ways that were not Musik; the students helping him seemed excited for a gyoza stand, and were more than glad to keep him company, even though they knew nothing about his talents or his past life.

He knew others found his liking of gyoza odd, but it wasn’t just a random obsession. No, it meant quite a lot to him; it was a symbol of kindness towards him that he wasn’t willing to forget. Last night, when he thought of how others saw him either as a genius or a lunatic, he got too caught up in his own unpleasant memories and didn’t do justice to one person who did treat him as more than that. His creator had shown him nothing but kindness, and never pressured him in becoming the musical genius he knew him to be; instead, he left him figure out his own identity and find his path at his own pace. It was indeed frustrating to know so little about the person he used to be, and the fuzzy memories sometimes brought him a deep sadness, along with the longing for something he never seemed to reach. Still, to be able to figure things out on his own, with someone who cared about him by his side, was a sign of respect he wished he never took for granted. His fondness of gyoza, as quirky as it seemed, was just like his fondness for that man, who seemed to not really care about anything and not take anything seriously, but was actually doing his best to keep people around him safe and happy… He wondered if he would ever see the man again.

…

High school students could only help Beethes to a point. For his gyoza stall to be a success, he would need assistance from an actual adult. He looked for someone familiar, someone who would help him without judgement - he wasn’t about to ask teenagers for help deciding how much he should charge for the gyoza and admit his difficulty with numbers. It was better to find one of his housemates. Schubert didn’t seem to be around, which was weird - the other man was always lurking around, eager to be of use. No matter. Maybe Wolf would be able to help him - he could be a good friend when he wasn’t busy being the centre of attention, and he was better at Maths than Beethoven, even if just a little.

He found his friend dressed in a ridiculous costume and surrounded by girls in one of the classrooms. The boy and the landlady were there as well, and before he could get the help he needed, she was already nagging them about something. She dragged them around the campus, looking for the other classicaloids, all the while shaming them for showing up at her school. Strangely enough, he wasn’t the only one who found a group of students who admired him - Wolf had his own fanclub already, Liszt found herself a large following of lovesick girls, and Chopin had a small group of teenagers with boxes on their heads behind him. It also amused him to see Schubert being followed around, for a change, and he seemed at ease leading the young ones and being in charge. 

Kanae managed to find all of them, but before she could drag them home and nag them infinitely, Sousuke saw an opportunity and took it; the people following Beethes and his housemates gathered around them, and made quite a sizeable crowd. The boy spoke to them, and announced they were actually a band, for the crowd’s amazement and Beethoven’s annoyance. It seemed he wouldn’t be allowed to be seen as something other than a musical genius, after all. He was about to protest, but… the boy was glowing. He longed for companionship that went beyond admiration, but the boy too was lonely - only instead of being isolated by his own greatness and talent, like himself, he stood out for being… plain. Maybe, if they played along, they could lend the boy the spotlight for once.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying really hard to update this once a week.  
> If you like it, consider leaving a comment! They feed my soul and clear up my skin more than any fried mandarins could ;)


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